


The Volleyball Gods do Weird Shit™

by moeblobmegane



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, M/M, Magical Realism, Miyagi Freshie Camp, Sports Gods AU, asanoya if you squint - Freeform, background daisuga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2018-11-06 00:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11024664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moeblobmegane/pseuds/moeblobmegane
Summary: Kei's brother used to tell him all about the random transformations, the sudden ability to talk to crows, and all the other unexplainable scenarios that happened. It was a common thing, apparently, when it came to sports clubs. There was something about the energy inside them that fed the magic in the air, that made the members susceptible to the tricks of the gods.He thought it was a prank.That was, until Weird Shit™ did start happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> being in the hockey rpf fandom made me so addicted to magical realism aus and weird sports curses so I'm here with this thing to have a playground and do whatever i want ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> also I really want to write more tsukihina because I deserve more fics for my otp
> 
> I posted this to tumblr before but this is The New And Improved Version (aka i had more time and now I'm not sleep-deprived so I added things)
> 
> spoilers for those who haven't read the manga. There is a lot of Miyagi Freshie Camp feelings in this one.

Kei knew about the Weird Shit™ that happens in Karasuno’s Volleyball Teams. His brother used to tell him all about the random transformations, the sudden ability to talk to crows, and all the other unexplainable scenarios that happened. It was a common thing, apparently, when it came to sports clubs. There was something about the energy inside them that fed the magic in the air, that made the members susceptible to the tricks of the gods. Pro baseball clubs had the same thing, as did all the other serious sports schools. At least, that’s what his brother told him.

He came into the school wary and on guard. He observed the club members the first weeks with quiet intensity; something that worried even his best friend Yamaguchi. He was so sure something was going to happen. For example, Kageyama and Hinata mind-melding. Or Asahi turning into a small frightened puppy. He waited with baited breath.

Months later, with nothing unusual happening, he laughed it off and decided it must have been a prank by his brother.

But then.

But then Weird Shit™ did start happening.

It wasn’t obvious at first. Only Kei, with his vague recollection of his brother’s stories, noticed the peculiarity of two crows flying around their gym. Kiyoko tried to get them to go away, but they simply flew higher and perched on the high windows. A crying Yachi used a broom to swat them away when they flew too close, and the two crows immediately backed off and lowered their heads as if they understood and felt guilty.

Kei narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Hey! Where’s Noya-san and Tanaka-senpai?” Hinata exclaimed, looking around.

The two crows flew towards him, and Yachi jumped to the side to hide behind Yamaguchi’s tall frame. Hinata went rigid in shock as the two crows perched on either of his shoulders

“Hinata,” Kei called out, “don’t panic. Don’t move.”

Hinata stared at him with wide eyes, but followed suit. Kei paused and looked around to make sure everyone was assembled aside from the two second years. It was not like Tanaka or Nishinoya to be late to practice. And those two crows were clearly acting in ways that crows do not. “I think those are Noya-san and Tanaka-senpai.”

“What-” Yamaguchi gaped at him, looking disturbed. All the others looked at him like he was losing it.

Hinata blinked and looked down at one of the crows in awe. “Senpai…?” At least someone believed him.

Kei sighed. “It _is_ you, right?” He stretched his arm forward. “Come here, senpai.” The two crows flew to his arm and stared. It seemed like their beady eyes were saying _help us_. Luckily, Kei remembered this story. The Little Giant once turned into a crow, too, if his brother’s stories were real. This had a simple solution. “I know it’s you, Nishinoya Yuu. Tanaka Ryuunosuke.”

Before anyone could react to his unusual behavior, the two crows suddenly fell down the floor with mist-like air surrounding the two; and then, the crows were gone. In their place were Tanaka and Nishinoya, lying on the ground in shock.

It… wasn’t a prank then, huh.

“AHHH!!!” came the shouts from all sides of the court. Yamaguchi caught a fainting Yachi. Kageyama was frozen with an intense expression on his face. Takeda-sensei was pale like all the blood on his face got drained. Suga was cautiously stepping forward while a shaking Asahi held on his sleeves in fear.

Nishinoya jumped towards Kei and clung to him like a koala. Tanaka joined the group hug, sobbing out a “thank you, Tsukishima!”

 

* * *

 

That was just the start.

After a vague explanation from Kei about how he knew this could happen, Ukai-sensei sat them down and explained the Weird Shit™ around Sports Clubs. He admitted that he had always known about this phenomenon, but he thought their club would not have this problem since they were not a powerhouse school yet. “Maybe they’re starting to notice us,” he concluded. Seeing their concerned expressions, he added, “The things that happen aren’t meant to harm, and they never happen during games or during important trainings days. They’re just harmless pranks.”

“By… the Volleyball Gods…?” Daichi’s voice dripped with disbelief.

Ukai nodded seriously. “Sports generate energy that calls out to the supernatural. My grandpa used to tell me all about it.”

“Then what was _this_?” Asahi asked, glancing at Noya at his side.

“It was a welcome back gift,” Kei answered out loud, since he recognized the gesture as soon as the two were transformed back into humans. “A simple prank to remind us that Karasuno is good again.”

Ukai looked thoughtful. “Huh,” he said. “That makes sense.”

“We’re flightless crows no more,” Takeda-sensei noted. “That’s why they turned into crows.”

“ _This_ was a _simple_ prank?” Tanaka asked, frowning. “What kind of shit will they pull next?”

“Sshhh!” Yachi exclaimed, eyes wild as she put a finger on her lips. “Don’t make them angry!” She looked around, muttering what seemed to be prayers under her breath.

“I’ve heard about people who suddenly swapped bodies or people who gain the ability to hear their teammates’ thoughts,” Ukai explained.

“My brother was able to talk to crows for most of his senior year,” Kei added. Now that he thought about it, it was when they rarely talked anymore. Did the Gods give his brother that ability so he won’t be lonely? If so, then maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as they imagined.

“It doesn’t happen randomly,” Ukai said. “It often has purpose and helps the team be better. That’s what the Volleyball Gods want, after all.”

“So…” Daichi cleared his throat. “We just accept this? Live with it?”

Ukai shrugged. “It’s been happening for centuries.”

There was a chorus of groans. They did not like this at all. The journey to Nationals was stressful enough without the added supernatural element.

Seeing their discontent, Takeda-sensei clapped his hands to get their attention. He offered them a reassuring smile. “We’ll deal with things as it goes. That’s what we’re good at, aren’t we?”

That was true. The statement resounded with them, as was obvious by the way the members relaxed and smiled back. Their team had been through a lot. They could survive this too.

 

Hinata sidled to his side as soon as practice was finished. “Your-” He cleared his throat. “Your brother was in the same batch as the Little Giant, right?” He was trying so hard to seem cool and unaffected, but this was _Hinata_. He couldn’t be lowkey no matter how hard he tried.

Kei grimaced but nodded in affirmation.

“Did something happen to him too?” Hinata leaned closer, eyes sparkling in that way that only happened when he was thinking about his idol or about volleyball moves. He could never hide his enthusiasm when it came to those things.

“He turned into a crow, too,” Kei answered, offering no other explanation. He walked off towards the locker room.

Hinata jogged to stay at his side. “Why? Do you know why the Gods made that happen?”

Kei shrugged. “Who cares?”

“I care!”

“Ask someone else.”

“You know! Why won’t you tell me?!” Hinata held onto his arm and dragged him to a stop. “Come on! Tsukishima!” He tugged some more, like a particularly annoying child. “Tsukki!”

Kei sighed. He knew Hinata would never let this go. The shorter boy had so much stubbornness in that petite body of his. “He wasn’t a starting member at first, but he turned into a Crow with most of the starters. The old coach knew it was a sign so he tried the Little Giant with the others. He didn’t disappoint.” He scowled at the smaller boy. “Happy?”

“Woah!” Hinata grinned brightly, obviously overjoyed to know more about his idol. “That’s so cool!” He patted Kei on the back and then ran off ahead. Climbing the stairs two steps at a time, he reached the top in no time. He looked back at Kei and waved before shouting, “Thanks for telling me! It’s really cool that you know all of that!” And then, he went inside the locker room without looking back.

Kei rolled his eyes, and ignored the warmth he felt in his chest.

* * *

 

Nothing else happened while they prepared for the nationals.

Nothing happened on their way to Tokyo, and nothing happened when they won the first game, or when they won the second. Nothing happened even when they lost.

Kei wondered if the Volleyball Gods were done with them, now that they were going home without any trophy. They tried, and they failed, and they were worth nothing like those powerhouse schools. They proved nothing. Their potential ended at just that.

Maybe the Gods realized they were wrong.

 

His defeatist theory was immediately proven wrong when, the day after they went home, the captain called his phone in a panic.

“I’m Koushi,” he said, voice pitching high in ways Kei had never heard before. “I’m Koushi but I’m in Daichi’s body.” He trailed off, seemingly dazed. “What the hell?!”

“Oh,” Kei said, thinking quickly. “Let’s meet at school. I’ll call Ukai-sensei.”

He called Ukai, who already knew because Sawamura-in-Suga’s-body had called him too.

They all met at their gym, surprised to see most of the team already there. The others were oblivious to the situation, so it was obvious they were there to practice. They were there _the day after they lost_ to practice. Typical. Kei did not expect anything less from his volleyball-obsessed teammates. (He refused to think about his own desire to go here this morning when he woke up. He refused to acknowledged that little voice in his head that sounded strangely like Hinata, telling him: “we’ll win it all next year, we’ll practice harder together”.)

“How is this helping anyone?” Suga-in-Sawamura’s-body exclaimed, making a facial expression that was out-of-place in the captain’s face.

Kei thought that maybe this was the Gods’ way of distracting them away from their loss, but he did not want to say that out loud. They were all still wounded from that memory, and calling attention to it would just hurt them all. Besides, there were other ways to distract them rather than making their graduating upperclassmen switch bodies. This was too elaborate to be for such a simple reason.

“How long is this supposed to last?” Sawamura asked.

Ukai frowned. “I’ll call my grandpa; see if he knows anything. I’m not sure if there’s a set time or if we should do something to bring you back like what Tsukishima did.”

He went off to make the call, while the team waited in silence. Kei watched as Suga and Sawamura avoided each others’ gazes despite peeking every now and then. They looked awkward and defensive. It felt like something else was happening here.

 

“It’s designed to make the two people get to know each other more,” Ukai explained. “Once they know whatever they need to know, they’ll change back. It happened to the captain and the setter of one batch my grandpa taught. Made them work better together.”

They all frowned, glancing towards the two. They were close. They were best friends. They practically shared a brain sometimes, with the way they finished each other’s sentences or spoke in unison. Out of everyone, they were the best at communicating with each other. (Hinata and Kei would have been perfect for this kind of prank, given how they were the exact opposite of each other. Kei shuddered at the thought. Thank the Gods that didn’t happen. It would be a nightmare.)

This situation did not make sense. They did not need this.

Except, Kei noticed something odd between the two. There was tension in Suga’s shoulders, and Sawamura’s gaze was turned down like he had a secret. The two were hiding something from each other, and the Gods wanted them to be upfront about it. The question was… What were they hiding?

 

The two remained body-swapped for another day, until Nishinoya took it upon himself to lock them inside the supply room for the whole duration of practice. Asahi and Yachi tried to stop him, but no one could stop Nishinoya when he put his mind to it.

 

After practice, when the team opened the door, the two were back in their real bodies. Hinata jumped inside to hug the two, and Kageyama awkwardly shuffled to Suga’s side to congratulate him for finding the solution.

Kei looked away as soon as he noticed the darkening kiss mark behind Suga’s ear. By the redness of Yamaguchi’s face, it seemed like Kei was not the only one who noticed.

“We fixed it,” Sawamura explained sheepishly.

“I fixed it, you mean,” Nishinoya retorted smugly.

“Yeah, thanks.” Sawamura laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go eat some meat buns. My treat.”

Later, Kei watched as Sawamura and Suga walked home hand-in-hand.

 

He wondered if something like that would happen to him, too. (He wasn’t _hoping_ to be pranked, but it seemed… beneficial? It felt like the Gods could force him to do something he needed to do or realize something he never thought he needed. The whole situation made him curious.)

* * *

 

The third years graduated without any more incidents, and the captainship was officially passed to Ennoshita. On his very first day of being a captain, without the guiding presence of the upperclassmen, he temporarily gained the ability to read the members’ minds. He stopped talking in the middle of giving his first captain speech and exclaimed, “Stop singing that commercial’s theme song!” at Tanaka, who was not singing anything at all.

Ennoshita initially had to step into an empty room to calm down, and then came back composed and calm as if nothing unusual happened.

It was a stressful day for all the members, but their new captain comforted them by saying that he will only use what he learned “for good”. Hinata and Kageyama, simpletons that they were, sighed in relief and thanked Ennoshita. Tanaka offered to treat Ennoshita to dinner.

(Kei begrudgingly promised to help train any freshman Middle Blockers, to be on Ennoshita’s good side.)

 

Hinata acted weird the day after. He was always weird to a certain extent, but this was different.

Kei watched as Hinata looked away from him for the third time in an hour. They were at Yamaguchi’s house, hanging out because they had apparently turned into co-dependent creatures who couldn’t be away from their teammates for more than a day. (It was embarrassing how glad Kei was when they decided to hang out during their breaks. This team was rubbing off on him in the worst way possible.)

“Hey, shrimp,” Kei called out as soon as Yamaguchi went to the kitchen to get some snacks. Kageyama was still in the bathroom, so they were alone for now. “What’s up with you? Did you get some weird ability too?”

Eyes wide, Hinata shook his head repeatedly. “No! No, no! Definitely not. No magic powers!”

Kei raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a lie.”

“I’m not lying!” Hinata leaned forward with an earnest expression on his face. He backed away as soon as he realized what he was doing, sitting on his hands as if afraid he’ll do something with them. “I just… Um. Enno- Captain read all of our minds and I was thinking about what he read from yours.” He added in a mumble, “because you’re always thinking and stuff.”

Ennoshita had grinned at Kei and said, “Your secret is safe with me,” before he left the locker room. Kei did not understand what that meant, and he refused to read into those words. (He knew, deep down, that he thought about Hinata’s enthusiasm, and the effect it has on him, more often than is strictly normal, but he was sure everyone was a little bit obsessed with Hinata’s skills anyway. It was not something to dwell on.)

“I was thinking about volleyball,” Kei said with a shrug. “I’m sure you were, too.”

Hinata blushed and nodded. “Yeah! Yeah, definitely.”

“That sounds like another lie.”

Hinata scowled and slapped him on the arm. “Shut up! It’s not.”

“Whatever,” Kei said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not interested in your thoughts anyway. Stupidity could be contagious.”

Hinata gasped in affront and tackled him as revenge.

 

* * *

 

The whole batch of first years (all seven of them) turned into crows on the first day of practice. Ennoshita had to do a roll call and then explain the whole situation to the scared first years.

Fucking Volleyball Gods and their weird sense of humor.

 

* * *

 

Nishinoya was cursed to say whatever was on his mind, and they all shrugged it off. Out of everyone, Nishinoya was the most straightforward anyway. He said whatever was on his mind. He never thought of anything mean about anyone. He was smart with his opinions and silly with his jokes. He was an open-book.

It all seemed pretty minor.

That was until Nishinoya ran off to the supply room and locked himself in, refusing to see anyone. Tanaka ran after him, and Hinata dragged the other second years to follow. Ennoshita stayed to handle the first years.

“What’s wrong, Noya-san?!” Hinata asked through the door.

“Go away!” Nishinoya shouted. “Nothing feels right! I miss Suga-san and Daichi! And Asahi! He’s my ace! No one else feels right!”

“Oh, Noya…” Tanaka placed a hand on the door, frowning deeply. “We know. We miss them too.”

“You don’t understand!” Nishinoya insisted. “Go away! Please! This is embarrassing! I’ll only say worse things! I can’t stop it! Mmmpph!” It ended with a muffled sound, like he was physically stopping himself from talking.

“You have to let it all out,” Kei spoke up, realization dawning. Every prank had a purpose. “It’s the only way to end this.”

There was a loaded silence, before—

“I don’t know how to be in a team without Asahi,” Nishinoya said, his voice soft and emotional. “It sucks, playing and not seeing him on the court. This sucks and I miss him. I wanna see them but they never visit us and I know it’s because they’re busy but sometimes I think it’s because they’ve forgotten about us. They have new teams and they don’t care anymore about us.”

“That’s not true!” Hinata rushed towards the door, vehemence clear in his voice. “They do!”

“They left the team to us because they trust us,” Tanaka added. “You know that.”

“Then why won’t they even visit?!” came Nishinoya’s angry reply. His voice made it clear that it was the magic forcing him to say this. It sounded like it was being dragged out of his throat. “They don’t care anymore! They’ve moved on from us! He’s moved on from _me_.”

“They don’t visit because they’re giving us space,” Kei answered easily. “Datekou’s captain still visited them all the time because he was worried about the team. He only stopped visiting when he realized they were fine on their own. Daichi-san has always trusted you.” He paused, thinking back to Nishinoya’s exact words. There were layers to this issue. “If you want to see Asahi-san, we can surprise him with a visit. I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

Hinata and Tanaka were staring at him with expressions of shock. Yamaguchi just smiled proudly and added, “Senpai, you’ve always been our Guardian Deity, right?”

“You’re the best player in this team,” Kageyama said, matter-of fact. “We need you.”

There was silence for a minute, before the door finally opened. “We should tell them to visit once we’ve settled down with this team,” he said. His confidence was back in full force, his expression lighter than it has been since the captaincy was passed. They never even noticed how difficult it has been for him. It must have been hard, keeping all those feelings to himself.

“Thanks, guys,” Nishinoya added, throwing an arm around Hinata’s shoulders. He paused, frowning for a second before his expression blossomed into a large grin. “It’s gone! Yes!”

(Ennoshita made them do 20 diving receives for missing the first half of practice. It was just like old times.)

 

Hinata immediately matched his pace with Kei as soon as their group finished changing and went out to buy snacks together. He had a large smile on his face, annoyingly confident in a way that meant he had something on Kei.

“What is it?” Kei glared down at him.

“You _do_ read the Miyagi Camp chatroom!” He exploded with it, all excitement and flailing hands. “I knew it! You don’t reply to anyone but I know you read the conversations there! You read what Kanji said about Moniwa-san!”

“I-” He did read it. The chatroom was a mess of volleyball data, team gossip and memes, so Kei never joined in their discussions, but he always felt amused when he read through it. Most of it was just Koganegawa and Hinata screaming at each other. It was funny. “So what?”

Hinata simply continued grinning up at him. “You can pretend to hate it but I know now,” he said.

Kei huffed, “Believe what you want to believe.”

“I will!” Hinata sent him one last smug look before running forward to pester Nishinoya.

* * *

 

It was months later when the next Weird Shit™ happened.

They didn’t notice it at first during practice, and even after when they were eating their post-practice snacks together as a team. It only manifested clearly when Yamaguchi and Kei went their separate way from the others.

Yamaguchi suddenly stopped walking, raising a hand and waving it around as if wiping something. “I can’t-” His eyes were wide as he tried to push the invisible barrier. “Something is blocking the way.”

Kei narrowed his eyes at the space Yamaguchi was touching, but he couldn’t see anything different. He looked back, wondering if their teammates were still in sight, only to notice that Kageyama and Hinata were fighting a few meters away.

“Hey!” He called at their direction. At his side, Yamaguchi stopped whatever he was doing.

Hinata looked up, and his surprise turned to understanding immediately. He pulled at Kageyama’s arm, sharply saying something with an annoyed expression on his face. Once they were close enough, Hinata said, “Kageyama couldn’t walk away. He said there was a wall even when there wasn’t.”

“Oh,” Kei said, glancing at a pale Yamaguchi. “You’re… bound together?” It was one of the stories they heard from Takeda-sensei’s research on what kind of Weird Shit™ happened to other Sports Clubs. Some people got bound together, unable to go more than a few feet away from each other.

Kageyama hummed in thought. “I guess I have to sleep at your house, huh?” He shrugged as if this was nothing to him.

Yamaguchi sent Kei a look that clearly shouted “ _sleepover with us! Help!_ ”

Kei ignored it, casually looking away. This was for Yamaguchi’s own good. The Gods have spoken, and their whims almost always ended in something great.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kei said tonelessly. He grabbed Hinata’s arm to drag him away before he could offer to join them. “Enjoy!”

 

Hinata stopped as soon as the two were out of earshot. “Poor Tadashi,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Kageyama is so annoying. We shouldn’t have left them alone.”

“They’ll be unbound as soon as they figure it out, I’m sure,” Kei said with a sigh. He did not understand why this happened or what those two would have to do, but leaving them alone seemed like the best course of action.

“I guess,” Hinata agreed begrudgingly. He looked at the sky, now turning black. “I hope they fix it by tomorrow.”

Kei hoped so, too. Yamaguchi looked deathly scared by the prospect of being alone with Kageyama, and doing it more would probably be bad for his health. He would have to text his best friend later and check up on him. If Kageyama does anything to make Yamaguchi upset… well. It wasn’t only Kei who cared about him. (Yachi and Hinata would go to battle for Yamaguchi, and Hamada-san always acted like he was Yamaguchi’s protective big brother.)

 

The next day, Yamaguchi shrugged off their concerns and said they broke whatever bounded them to each other. He did not explain how they did or why he thought it happened. The only answer he gave was a small smile, and a quiet “we talked”.

Kei watched them closely the whole day, and nothing seems to have changed with the two, save for Yamaguchi being more at ease with starting a conversation with Kageyama.

During practice, Yamaguchi offered to teach the freshmen how to do a float serve, and Kageyama offered to teach them how to do jump serves. They worked side-by-side, leading the younger members in tandem.

Yamaguchi looked more confident with his skills than he has ever been, and Kageyama seemed more patient with the freshmen. Perhaps, that was why the Gods chose those two. They had something to learn from each other.

(At the back of his mind, Tsukishima wondered if this was a sign that those two would become their next captains.) 

* * *

 

It was the anniversary of the Miyagi Freshmen Camp, a few weeks before Nationals, when the Volleyball Gods chose to mess with Hinata. It was a day off, and Hinata had roped Kei to join the “reunion” with the other members of the camp. They all met at the main gate of Shiratorizawa, where Goshiki was waiting to let them into the gym they used last year.

Everyone came, as expected. Koganegawa and Hinata were forces of nature who would never take ‘no’ for an answer. Besides, they had all grown close one way or another, so the group was excited to meet up. (Even Kei was begrudgingly looking forward to blocking one of Goshiki’s spikes or watching the way Kunimi planned his attacks.)

It was all going well for the first half hour, all of them talking and planning how to group themselves for the two-on-two.

But then, Kei looked to his side, ready to goad Hinata into joining Kindaichi’s team, when white mist enveloped the shorter boy. The others didn’t even notice at first, too busy talking amongst themselves. Soon enough though, Koganegawa saw and gasped, “WHAT!!!”

It was telling from the reactions who had experience with this and who didn’t.

Kunimi, Kindaichi and Goshiki all frowned and stepped back, as if afraid to be affected by the mist. Koganegawa was freaking out, but he whispered, “Please don’t turn into a rock! Please don’t turn into a rock!” so he obviously knew what was happening. (Turn into a rock though? What the hell happened in Datekou?)

Hyakuzawa fell down on his butt in shock, eyes wide and jaw gaping. “W-what the hell…”

When the mist dissipated, Hinata was still there. Except, he was about 10 years younger. He looked around, wide eyes curious as he took in everything. Seven years old Hinata did not have any fear for strangers, it seemed, because he immediately ran to Tsukishima and grinned widely up at him. “Hi!”

“Hello…” Tsukishima kneeled down. “Do you know who I am?”

“Tsukki!” Hinata exclaimed happily, reaching out to pat his face. He turned around to point at the others. “Turnip-head! Kanji! 2 meters! Kunimi! Shiratorizawa’s new ace!” There was a mixed bag of reactions from the others. (Kunimi put a hand on Kindaichi’s arm to stop him from stepping forward; Hyakuzawa still could not move in fear; Goshiki preened and nodded happily.)

Hinata remembered who they were, then. But he had the mind of a seven years old? The Volleyball Gods were so fucking weird.

“Play with me, please?” Hinata jumped forward and clung to his arm, grinning widely. “Tsukki, play with me!”

What the hell was this supposed to mean?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so it's been... more than a year, and I am sorry. I don't have a good reason for not finishing it other than this fic eluded me. It's just a very different fic and i wrote it in the middle of one of the best tsukihina arcs. And we haven't had any of those lately (i am so s a d about it)
> 
> anyway it's one day from my birthday so pls be nice to me

“Is there anything you remember from your bus ride? Or any point in your travel?”

Kunimi was sitting as far away from Hinata as possible. Koganegawa had been tasked with taking care of the de-aged Hinata, which mostly consisted of playing with him and reminding him to drink water after running around too long. So far, Hinata had been satisfied with this, but he kept on looking over at Kunimi and Kei as if he wanted to come over and drag them to play.

“I don’t—”

Kei froze. There was a part of their conversation that niggled at him.

 

_“You’re acting like a child,” Kei said, shaking his head at Hinata. “You can’t force me to enjoy things just because you do.”_

_Hinata scowled at him. “I’m not acting like a child. You’re being boring.”_

_“It’s a training camp. It’s not a get-together.”_

_“It is both, though!” Hinata said, looking like he would stomp his feet in a tantrum. “Why are you so against admitting they’re your friends?”_

_“You’re barely my friend,” Kei replied with a sneer._

_“A-ha! But I AM your friend!” Hinata looked victorious for some reason, which was stupid since he did not win that argument at all. “As your friend, I have the right to pull you into playing with us.”_

_“I’m only going to practice,” Kei said. “Your weird training ideas sound like they’re for children.”_

 

With increasing dread, Kei realized what was happening.

This was _his_ fault. The Volleyball Gods heard his words and they were punishing him for not being a good sport. He really could not understand their logic. Did he not suffer enough, being surrounded by these volleyball maniacs? Would this really help their team? Or are they laughing wherever they are, enjoying Kei’s suffering?

“I told him he was being a child,” he told Kunimi. “Dammit.”

Kunimi sighed. “Ah. Then.” He paused, looking over at Hinata who was slowly coming closer and closer after every throw of the ball. “I don’t know what to do about that.”

“Me neither,” Kei admitted. “Never heard of this one.”

“Maybe the upperclassmen have,” Goshiki piped up. “We’re Shiratorizawa, after all.”

That’s true. They were the oldest and biggest powerhouse in Miyagi. If there was anyone who would understand, it was them.

“I’ll make calls,” Goshiki said, standing up and walking towards the door. “For now, why don’t you _play?_ ”

Kunimi smirked. “It’s the most logical solution, right?”

“You’re enjoying this,” Kei said, glaring. “Are you sure you’re not one of those Volleyball Gods?”

It looked like Kunimi wanted to laugh, but he just snorted and stood up as well. “Pretty sure that’s blasphemy, Tsukishima. Be careful.”

“Right, right. Of course.”

 

“Tsukki!”

“Don’t call me that.”

Little hands persistently continued to tug at his sleeves, trying to drag him towards the court. “Play! Play! Play!”

“Brat…” Kei raised a fist up and glared at the little boy. “You’ve got plenty of play mates, so scoot.” He gestured to Koganegawa, Kindaichi and Hyakuzawa waiting for him at the other side of the court. An hour into the situation and they were enjoying having a child-version of Hinata to play with. They looked really into whatever kind of catch-tag hybrid they were playing.

Hinata’s small face crumpled into a petulant frown as he crossed his arms. “No!” he exclaimed, loud enough to be heard across the whole gym. “I want to play with _you_!”

“You’re too small, I might step on you,” Kei said.

Hinata kicked him on the side. “I’m not! You’re just too tall!” He tugged harder. Any more and Kei’s sleeves were gonna stretch. His mom will kill him. “It’s no good if Tsukki doesn’t join!”

“Why?”

“Because!” Hinata stomps one foot on the floor. “You’re my special friend and I want you to play with all our friends, okay?”

Kei narrowed his eyes at him, wondering how he should react to that, but before he could say anything, Kindaichi hit the back of his head and said, “Come on and play with him before he cries.”

“I’m not going to cry!” Hinata stuck out his tongue at Kindaichi then turned towards Kei. “Please, Tsukki?” Wide puppy eyes, two small hands clasped together, and a wobbly pout to wrap it all up. Kids were ridiculously adorable.

And Kei had always been weak for small, cute things.

“Fine,” Kei sighed. “Let’s play, Shouyou.”

 

They ended up playing loads of children’s games, from using a spare ball for some easy dodgeball, to hide and seek around the whole area. Kei played with them the whole afternoon, and by the end of the day, he was laughing with them as they tried to catch a giggling Hinata. Putting away all his condescension for the whole day felt freeing. Being able to run without care and laugh with everyone felt good.

But even after they were all tired, Hinata still did not turn back into normal.

“I guess he’s your responsibility now,” Kunimi said, clearly hiding a smile.

“Take care of Shou-chan, okay?!” Koganegawa asked, like some doting uncle.

Kei sighed and nodded, taking Hinata’s hand in his. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Hinata smiled widely and followed after him, singing a cartoon theme song under his breath. They stood by the bus stop to wait for their ride, and as they did, Hinata started swaying their clasped hands together to the beat of the song he was singing. “I had fun~” he said. “Tag was fun but hide and seek was the best! Kindaichi didn’t see me when I hid behind Hyakuzawa! It was funny!”

Kei nodded indulgently. “You were good at it.”

“But my favorite was playing volleyball! I like playing volleyball with everyone! It’s always fun!” The childish tone was all seven years old Hinata, but there was something there that felt like a hint of the teenage one. “Did you have fun with everyone?”

Kei could not help but smile. “Yeah, I did. Thank you, Shouyou.”

Just like that, the mist appeared and standing beside Kei, clutching his hand, was the seventeen years old Hinata Shouyou. A _blushing_ Hinata Shouyou who squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt.

“Y-you!” Hinata looked up at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “You called me by my first name!”

Kei raised an eyebrow. “To differentiate you and your younger self, idiot.”

Hinata let go of his hand and pointed at him, face still bright with that blush. “You were laughing and smiling the whole time! I remember!”

“...So?”

Making a disgruntled sound, he looked away and crossed his arms. “You like my younger self more than you like me!”

“I mean, yeah,” Kei agreed with a slow nod. “Children are generally better people.”

Hinata gasped and kicked him on the shin. “Like me more!” He tried to get a punch in, but this time, Kei caught his fist just in time.

“What?”

“I’m right here!” He pulled his fist out of Kei’s grasp, but then he reached out to take Kei’s hand with both of his. “You should like _me_ more!”

Kei felt his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Hinata was too ridiculous and straightforward for his own good. Even if that was how he felt, shouldn’t he phrase it in a better way? That kind of statement is a trick on people’s hearts. Kei refused to take it seriously.

“You’re being insufferable,” Kei groaned. “You’re my friend, alright? I like you enough. Stop shouting about stupid things.”

All at once, Hinata froze and then his face lit up like Kei just gave him the greatest gift of all. “You called me your friend!”

“What a simpleton…”

Hinata, still smiling, said, “Nothing you say will hurt me anymore, friend.”

 

* * *

 

Kei thought that would be the end of it. He didn’t know why Hinata turned back, but he was willing to let it go if it meant nothing else would happen. Or at least, if nothing else happened to him or Hinata. He didn’t care if Kindaichi literally turned into a talking turnip or if Koganegawa turned into stone, as long as the Volleyball Gods decided to skip Kei and Hinata for their pranks.

And nothing really happened.

Nothing happened for the next two days of the camp, where they practiced with and against each other and honed techniques they’ve been developing since they first met a year ago. There were even a few children games strewn in between, with Hinata’s insistence. The others were able to get some sort of lesson from those games, it seemed. Aside from that, it was obvious they missed the younger Hinata, so Kei watched them play and never commented on their childishness.

It was a good two days.

Kei got the practice he wanted, even though he wasn’t able to play against everyone. He spent a majority of the two days spiking for Koganegawa and blocking Goshiki. (It wasn’t that he was avoiding Hinata. He was just taking this chance to go against people he normally didn’t practice against.)

It was two days filled with memories he treasured, and he was satisfied when he went to bed that night.

 

But then when he woke up the next day and told his mother he’d be needing a lunch box as always, she said “But didn’t your camp offer lunch, too?”

“Camp finished yesterday,” he said.

“It’s only been two days, though.”

He asked her for the date, and hoped the Gods weren’t _this_ powerful.

 

“I didn’t even know they could do something like this!”

When Kei arrived at Shiratorizawa, Kindaichi was fuming in front of the gym, stomping around like he was filled to the brim with anger and he did not know how to get it out of his system. Goshiki was sitting on the steps, Kunimi and Koganegawa huddled behind him to peer at his phone. Hinata was trying to calm down a panicking Hyakuzawa.

“Did your upperclassmen know anything?” Kei asked, stopping in front of Goshiki.

“How are you so calm about this?!” Kindaichi exclaimed, pointing at him accusingly as if he somehow made this happen.

Kei ignored him and waited for Goshiki to answer.

After a few tense moments, Goshiki’s phone beeped, and everyone joined their little huddle.

“What is it?”

“What should we do?”

“Can they reverse it?”

“Is Ushiwaka-san coming?”

Goshiki shushed them and read through the message: “It’s related to future prospects. Build two-on-two teams until the mixture is right.”

“What does that even mean?” Kei uttered in disbelief.

Another beep. “It happened in one camp Ushijima-senpai was in, and they realized it was a clue for future teams. Ushijima-senpai is with them in college now, so they think it was a way for the Gods to let them work on their teamwork early.”

That was so stupid. The Gods were clearly bored if they _made time loops_ just to let future teammates bond earlier than they would. It was so unnecessary. Volleyball teams were built and separated constantly. It was how the system worked.

“That’s easy enough,” Kunimi said, the voice of reason as always. Kindaichi grumbled but he settled down and sat on the steps behind them. “If we try all types of pairings, we’d eventually get there.”

“Oh!” Hinata jumped up, both arms raised in a victory pose. “More volleyball!”

That broke the tension.

Everyone stared at him for a moment before they started laughing, saying things along the lines of “ _of course_ that’s what you’d think!”

 

The Shiratorizawa alumnis told them that they would feel the correct answer when they found it. Something inside them would know that time would move properly again.

They had no other choice but to try as many pairings as they could, especially ones they haven’t tried before.

It was long and tiring, but about five games in, they got the winning combination.

Goshiki and Tsukishima faced off against Kunimi and Hinata, and the moment Goshiki’s spike signalled the end of the game, they all felt a tingling sensation around them. It felt like the charged air had dissipated.

“Is this—” Kunimi looked around the court. “What does this mean, anyway? Am I going to college with _Hinata_?”

Hinata was frowning. “Hm,” was his only reply.

Goshiki turned to Kei with a proud smirk, offering a hand to shake like it was the end of an official match. “If we would be teammates in the future, it would be a pleasure,” he said. “You’re a great player.”

Kei looked away, embarrassed by those words. Out of everyone in this camp, Goshiki’s opinion was something he treasured because he would never compliment anyone out of the goodness of his heart. Goshiki understood talent, since he was surrounded everyday by it inside Shiratorizawa. It was flattering to hear those words from someone who was deemed worthy of being Shiratorizawa’s ace.

“Likewise,” he said, and shook Goshiki’s hand.

 

* * *

 

 

Having had two Weird Shit™ happen to him in a few days, Kei’s defenses were fully up when he came back to train for the nationals with Karasuno. Sure, he was curious about the Gods’ pranks, but it was too troublesome and he wanted to focus on anything else but their whims.

That was why, when he saw Hinata and Yachi holding hands and running towards him outside the gym, he immediately backed away.

“Tsukishima!”

“Tsukishima-kun!”

“Ask Captain,” Kei immediately said despite not knowing what they were screaming about.

Hinata raised their clasped hands and made a move to pull away, but something flickered between their hands. It seemed they were joined magically.

“Help!”

Kei snickered. “Maybe the Gods are telling you to date each other,” he said, pretending as if the idea didn’t affect him in any way.

Yachi scowled. “Tsukishima-kun, please,” she reprimanded, although he didn’t know what she was reprimanding him about. “Can you hold Hinata’s hand to see if it’ll affect you, too?”

“What?”

 _No_.

His mind screamed _NO_ very loudly.

“Why would I do that?” Kei asked. “I don’t want to catch it if it’s contagious.”

“It doesn’t hurt!” Hinata said, like that should be enough reason to try it.

Kei knew it would hurt some other way, if he was forced to hold Hinata’s hand for a long amount of time. He would rather be turned into stone, thank you very much.

“Try it with someone else,” he said. Yamaguchi was watching them from a safe distance, so Kei called him over. “Hey, Yamaguchi, can you touch Yachi’s hand? They’re checking something.”

Yamaguchi looked suspicious, but seeing Yachi’s pleading expression, he couldn’t do anything but do as told. Something flickered in between their hands, and the next thing they knew, Yamaguchi was holding Yachi’s hand with a horrified expression.

“What was that?!”

Kei chuckled. “Oh, hey. It’s contagious.” It was almost hilarious how quickly Hinata tried to dart forward to touch his hand as well. Knowing it was coming, Kei simply sidestepped him and ran towards the entrance of the gym.

“Weird Shit™ coming through!” he announced, as soon as he was inside.

The first years all huddled into one scared group at the other side of the court. The third years looked at the door with narrowed eyes.

“What happened?” Ennoshita asked.

“Our hands are glued together!” Yamaguchi explained.

“It’s contagious!” Yachi added.

“Tsukishima won’t let me hold his hand!” Hinata said, as if that was the most horrible part of this whole fiasco.

Tanaka gasped and pointed at the three with a scandalized expression. “You’re _holding hands_!”

Nishinoya ran over to hold Hinata’s hand. “I’ll hold your hand!” he said, but even when their hands touched, nothing happened. “Hm? It doesn’t work?”

Ennoshita walked over as well, touching Yamaguchi’s hand. Nothing happened, either. He turned towards the scared freshmen and shouted, “First years, we need a volunteer!”

After a lot of pushing and whispered threats, Miyamoto jogged towards them. He was pale and shaking, the poor guy. “Do I have to—” At Ennoshita’s nod, he reached over to touch Hinata’s hand.

Nothing.

“Tsukishima, you have to try,” Ennoshita said with a grave expression. “You have to hold Hinata’s hand.” Despite his seriousness, Kei could see something like amusement too. Their captain was _enjoying this_.

“No,” Kei said, stepping back even further away. “Make Kageyama do it first. I’ll call my brother to ask if something like this happened before.”

He ran over to his bag, ignoring Hinata’s shouts of “Hold my hand, dammit Tsukishima!”

 

Akiteru had not heard of this phenomenon, but a quick message to the Miyagi group chat yielded the answer Kei needed. Koganegawa said they needed to hold hands as a batch, though, to make it end. It was not the answer Kei wanted to hear, but he had no choice. If this was the solution, then he’d have to hold their hands.

Luckily, when Kei came back to the middle of the gym, Kageyama was stuck to Hinata. He was trying valiantly to pull away, but the flickering between their hands continued holding them together.

“Stop that,” Kei scolded. “You might injure yourself.”

Kageyama glared, but did as told.

“What did they say?” Yamaguchi asked.

Instead of answering, Kei simply walked towards them and grabbed Kageyama’s and Yamaguchi’s hands. Hinata glared daggers at him, but he ignored that easily.

Yachi blinked at him, moving her arms as if feeling out the magic. “Now what?”

“We’re a team,” Kei said the magic words. “Even when we graduate, we’ll always be connected. Yachi, even when we become third years, even when you find a new manager for the team, you’ll always be _our_ manager. No amount of studying away from each other would tear us apart. You’ll always be _ours_.”

Yachi teared up.

Actually, both Yamaguchi and Hinata started crying as well. Kageyama looked slightly emotional, even.

The shock of seeing them all like that paralyzed Kei enough that he couldn’t object when their hands detangled and the others moved in for a group hug.

 

* * *

 

 

A week before Nationals, Kageyama and Kei got telepathy.

Or, more accurately, they mind-melded with each other.

It was not as bad as he would have expected.

 

Being mind-melded during practice was a horrifying idea for Kei, but it was an important opportunity, too. Kageyama’s mind, when he thought about Kei’s spikes, were filled with frustration both for Kei and for himself. Ever since Hinata showed a video of Kei and Koganegawa playing at the Miyagi Camp, Kageyama had been pushing himself too much. It felt like he was punishing himself for not reaching that point of contact, for not pushing Kei to his very limits.

But Kei wanted to say _I trust you_ and _playing with you feels more stable_ and _you make me better, always, in the end_.

Apparently, for once in his life, the Volleyball Gods wanted to help Kei.

 

Kageyama stopped mid-toss and stared at Kei with wide eyes.

 _Really?_ His mind was filled with confusion and doubt.

Kei rolled his eyes. _You are one-hundred times better than Koganegawa, are you kidding me? Playing with you makes me better._

Thinking something was easier than saying it. Without anyone hearing it, without anyone being able to tell how important this was, Kei could easily think honest thought about Kageyama's toss. He could easily tell Kageyama how important the setter was to his game.

That day, it felt like something special happened.

Kei knew that Kageyama would still push him to his limits, but he also knew that together, as they are now, they would improve and perfect Kei’s spike.

 

“You were acting weird earlier,” Hinata said, eyeing Kageyama and Kei with suspicion. “You kept staring at each other.”

“Kageyama found out he has a crush on me,” Kei deadpanned.

Hinata gasped, eyes widening as he looked at Kageyama with horrified shock written all over his face.

“Dumbass,” Kageyama muttered, hitting Hinata on the head. “It was the Gods.”

“What happened?” Yachi asked, perking up. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Kei shook his head. “It was nothing.”

Kageyama smirked at him. “Our secret, huh?”

“Yeah,” Kei said, nodding and smirking as well. “No one else has to know, right?”

“What?!” Hinata exclaimed, and even Yamaguchi looked surprised by their agreement. “Why won’t you tell us?”

“You don’t have to know,” Kei said.

“It’s ours,” Kageyama agreed. “And it ended already, so there’s no point in telling you.”

“But I want to know!”

“Too bad,” Kei sneered.

“Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

Kei rolled his eyes. “Will you shut up if I treat you to some meat buns?”

“...Maybe,” Hinata conceded.

Kageyama ran to the store, and shouted, “If I get there first, you’ll pay for mine, Hinata!”

That completely distracted Hinata, and left Kei to Yachi and Yamaguchi’s identical looks of curiosity.

“Mind-meld,” he said, easily. Yachi and Yamaguchi were safe, after all. As expected, they both nodded and did not ask questions, letting him keep this experience to himself.

 

* * *

 

 

It all came to a head the night before the Nationals was going to start. They had settled into their inn with little fuss, since the first years were less rowdy than Kageyama and Hinata. The third years knew what to do because of last year’s experience, and Yachi had grown more adept with handling the dumbass duo. They brought their bags into their rooms and went for a bath by batch.

Kei had been noticing a worrying lack of shouts from Hinata, and was actually wondering if the Volleyball Gods had done something to make him quiet, but he was chatty with Yamaguchi earlier and shouted excitement with the first years during the train ride.

Hinata was quiet _around him_ , and it annoyed Kei.

He wondered if he should bring it up, if he should make fun of Hinata to see how he would react.

 

In the end, he didn’t have to.

As soon as Yamaguchi and Kageyama were outside the changing room, the door shut close with an ominous _clack_. It was an unlocked wooden sliding door, but when Kei tried to open it, the door did not budge. He could hear Kageyama and Yamaguchi shouting from the other side.

“We’ll call captain!” Yamaguchi said, before their footsteps away resounded outside.

When Kei looked behind him, Hinata was staring at the door with a pale expression. He was only wearing his shorts, seemingly having dropped his shirt while in the middle of changing. Kei had already changed and was about to follow Yamaguchi when the Gods decided to mess with him. Maybe this was payback for their help last time.

“We’re locked in,” Kei offered uselessly.

Hinata continued staring at the door.

“I guess they want us to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” Hinata immediately said, backing away until he was by the other wall. “This is a mistake!”

“Uh-huh,” Kei said, narrowing his eyes. “It’s obvious you’re hiding something from me.”

“Wh-what?! I’m not!” Hinata raised two hands and waved them in front of him repeatedly. “I’m not hiding anything!”

“The Volleyball Gods don’t think so.”

“They’re wrong!”

Kei stepped forward. “Better be careful,” he said. “They might curse you if they hear you say that.”

“ _This_ is a curse,” Hinata said, then turned red.

“Hm. And why is that?”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” he said, clenching both fists at his side.

“That won’t do,” Kei said, and he was suddenly glad the Gods did this. With the way Hinata was stubbornly refusing to say anything or even look at Kei, this must be a bigger deal than Kei initially thought. He was going to let it be, thinking it was a stupid issue Hinata had with him, but if it was something serious… The Gods did good, interfering before their big games.

“We can’t go out if you don’t say it,” he reminded Hinata. “I don’t have anything to say to you, and you’re being _very_ suspicious, so clearly, it’s your fault.”

“It’s not _my_ —”

“Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I wasn’t avoiding you!”

“You hid behind Miyamoto when Yamaguchi asked you to come with us at the train station,” Kei said, taking another step closer.

Hinata stared at his feet, at the meager distance separating them. If Kei moved a few more steps forward, they would be close enough to touch.

“You wanted to take a bath with the seniors instead of with us,” he added. “Do you hate me or something? Better to lay it out now, shrimp.” It would be a cruel trick, if that was the right answer, but Kei would rather know the truth than have Hinata ignore him for much longer.

“I don’t _hate_ you,” Hinata muttered. “I’m angry at you.”

Kei blinked. “Why?”

“You didn’t tell me what happened with you and Kageyama.”

“That wasn’t any of your business,” Kei said.

That seemed to spur Hinata on, giving him the push to look up with a determined expression on his face. “You didn’t want to hold my hand but you held Kageyama’s and Yamaguchi’s.”

“Yeah, because I asked around and that was the solution. I needed confirmation before doing anything.” He’d rather not talk about why he didn’t want to hold Hinata’s hand.

“You weren’t in my team when the camp’s curse broke.”

“That… wasn’t my fault," Kei said, even more confused now. "What’s this about?”

Hinata groaned and crouched down, sitting on the floor and putting his face in his hands. “I’m just angry at you, okay?!”

“Why would you be angry about those?” Kei finally walked the distance between them and sat in front of him. “Why are you upset I wasn’t in your team?” He didn’t want to hope, but this sounded like— This sounded like _hope_ to him. It sounded like a chance.

For a moment, all he could think about was Daichi and Suga holding hands as they went home together, and that feeling he got when he watched them go.

He wanted that, too.

“We’re not going to be teammates in the future,” Hinata said, letting his hands fall limp at his sides. He stared down on his knees. “And you have a special bond with Kageyama, and you won’t hold my hand.”

Kei fought down the urge to smile at Hinata’s words. Instead, he asked, “And that makes you angry?”

Hinata nodded.

“Is it because of volleyball?” Kei wanted to be clear about this. “Do you want to play with me until college?”

“Yes,” Hinata answered quickly. But then, he added, “No, not— It’s not just that, though.” He looked up, and Kei had to stare at the expression on his face. He looked serious and intense in that way he only got in the middle of a tied game. But at the edges of it was _pain_ , and longing, and fear. He was scared of what he was feeling.

Kei had been scared too, when he figured out why Hinata occupied his mind too much for a simple teammate. He had been so scared of the realization that he refused to accept it.

Well, until now.

If the Gods wanted them to spill their guts, then Kei should really let it be. Hinata wasn’t the only one hiding something here.

“I don’t like the idea of playing in a team without you, either,” he started. “And it isn’t just about volleyball,” Kei started.

“What?”

“Talking with you is unexpectedly an important part of my day,” he said. The admission felt like too much already, even though it was one simple fact of life. “I can’t help watching you, when we’re on the court, and even when we’re just walking home from school.”

Hinata was staring at him with wonder.

Kei, despite every instinct in him telling him to stop, continued on: “I didn’t want to hold your hand when I was being forced by the Gods, because I _wanted_ to hold it. For me.”

Hinata reached over to take his hand, and for once, Kei let him. “I wanted to hold your hand,” he said, voice quiet, almost reverent. “I wanted to… I wanted to be in your team _forever_.”

“But not just in volleyball?”

Hinata shook his head. “I wanted…”

When Hinata let that hang for too long, Kei asked, “To be with me?”

“Yeah.” Hinata squeezed his hand. “I wanted you to like me.”

Kei remembered how Hinata said _I’m right here_ and _you should like me_ weeks ago.

“I do,” Kei said. “I do like you.”

Hinata smiled, lighting up brighter than ever. He looked almost giddy as he pulled at Kei’s hand. “Really?”

Kei nodded.

As if it was that easy, as if that was everything he needed to know, Hinata grinned and surged forward, planting a quick kiss to Kei’s lips.

 

Later that night, hand in hand under the moonlight, Kei quietly sent thanks to the Volleyball Gods, and hoped for more blessings to come.


End file.
